Scaffolding has many uses, particularly for the construction and maintenance of buildings. A scaffold assembly can be used as a single tier, but is usually formed to allow stacking of the scaffold assembly so that many tiers may be joined to provide workers with the ability to reach great heights above the ground or above a particular floor in a building. Very often, the tiers of a scaffold may be so high that they must be tied to a building to prevent accidents. Several tiers of scaffolding being so stacked can become unstable, which may be exacerbated by the movements of the workers, by high winds, and by other natural and man-made factors.
But when scaffolds are used during the construction process within a building utilizing steel I-beam construction, stability does not generally pose a serious problem, and instead, mobility is a factor to be considered. The mobility of the scaffold may adversely impact productivity, even where the scaffold assembly might only be one or two tiers high, while working on an individual floor of a modern building. The scaffolding would therefore not need to be tied to a wall, and conversely may need to be constantly relocated to various positions throughout the building's floor.
The worker's productivity may be limited by mobility, due to the methodology utilized in steel I-beam construction. The initial phase of construction for the building often involves the substructure, in which piles may be driven down to reach bedrock, alternatively, shafts may be drilled, into which steel reinforcing rods are inserted, and the shafts are then filled with concrete. A foundation platform consisting of reinforced concrete is then poured above the support columns. Rising up from the foundation platform is the superstructure. A common method of forming the building's superstructure for modern office buildings and skyscrapers involves erecting steel I-beam columns, to which are attached steel girders and cross-beams that form a steel skeleton.
Steel Decking is then attached to the horizontal I-beams, usually being welded in place. The decking typically consists of panels of thin corrugated steel. An early example of the steel decking that may be used is illustrated in FIG. 5 of U.S. Pat. No. 757,519 to Turnbull, which has “cylindric corrugations.” A later example is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 4,453,364 to Ting which generally has flat surfaces-peaks, valleys, and sloping webs that form trapezoidal corrugations.
It has been known for some time, in the art of construction, to attach anchor studs to steel I-beams to serve as a shear transfer element, which is shown by U.S. Pat. No. 2,987,855 to Singleton. Singleton also shows use of steel decking that has wave-like corrugations, and which appear more sinusoidal than cylindric. It is also quite common to weld steel anchor studs to the decking at the I-beam locations, with one such approach being shown by U.S. Pat. No. 3,363,379 to Curran. Generally, at some optimum point in the construction sequence thereafter, concrete is poured over the corrugated decking and anchor studs to establish the particular floor of the building. However, before the concrete is actually poured, and after the decking and the studs have been secured to provide a stable platform, many other steps are performed to facilitate the overall construction of each floor, including installation of diagonal side bracing, which requires use of scaffolding.
At this point in the construction, the scaffolding must be placed atop the steel decking in a manner that makes it stable, despite only having periodic support from the corrugations. It is not uncommon to bolt the base plates of the scaffold shown in FIG. 7, to a series of wood planks which may form a rectangular base. But the scaffold then must be lifted and carried from position to position about the decking, which might require removal of the wood planks in order to reduce the weight of the scaffold assembly being transported.
The multi-directional transport device disclosed herein may be attached to each base of a typical scaffold, to provide a more efficient means of relocating the scaffolding about the decking without use of wood planking, and without the need to lift and carry the assembly, possibly eliminating the need for the assistance of a second worker.